I think Sujon got carried away in due haste to ammend his toss botching experiences in the recent past.

Now he wins, but ends up making the wrong decision ??

Was it not obvious that the heavens will break open just a little later ? What about the forecast - I see that day 1 was meant to be the worst (I checked before the toss). So why bat under overcast conditions ??

And Bashar, just to peg on Sham's point, is just a our George Bush of cricket, in inverse. He has no brains, no temperment, just too much talent. And people want him to be their captain !!

Sham, You think Javed did not play express quick bowling well! Please check again. I have already mentioned Ntini (his recorded speed is 94.1 as opposed to 94.7 for Harmison). And I don't have to mention the king of the pace for sure...Shoaib that is. Javed has a century against him.

What I saw of Javed Omar in Pakistan , was that he handled pace well but when it was combined with bounce n lift, he was at times in trouble. One good thing was he constantly kept adjusting to the circumstances. I remember after the first Test where he had some prob with fast indippers, he opened up his stance a lil bit and defended dourly. Bounce factor is his problem area imo.

Optimist, did you see Javed's hundred against Pakistan? I don't want to knock it down, it was great. However, Shoaib was definitely out of tune for a large part of that match. When he found his rhythm, we saw what happened to Javed.

Look, I have nothing against Javed. I like him as a matter of fact. But from what I have seen of him, he is clearly uncomfortable when a quick bowler bowls at him. Its alright when they bowl outside the line of off-stump, but when they bowl at him, he is extremely awkward to watch. Did you watch him against Lee? The poor guy just didn't know what to do, he was so out of sorts.

Also, I don't think Sujon made the wrong decision. There is no way he could have known that they would get 4 overs in before a big storm would wash out all but 19 extremely uncomfortable overs at the end. Plus, he doesn't have the seam attack to take advantage of the conditions. He has the spin attack to take advantage of a turning track late in the game. So its pretty reasonable that he wanted to bat first and bowl last.

With Javed Omar and Habibul Bashar gone, there goes our chance of getting to see a test century, ofcourse, a test century under the present circusmstances would seem like a double hundred.

==================================

Now it somehow feels like the Zimbabwe team - that went to Australia without Grant Flower, Andy Flower, who has quite a lot of Test centuries under their belt. And a test century by Craig Whishart and Trevor Gripper against Bangladesh on the most batting paradise wicket of the sub-continent doesn't mean anything much.

For Bangladesh, in this test match, Hannan, Rajin and Alok will have to prove themselves in Test match cricket that Habibul Bashar is not our Tendulkar - upon whom the total score depends.

Sham, how many players in the world are comfortable against Shoeb at his best? He single handedly destroyed almost every top order including Australia's. It is one of the main responsibility of the batsmen to never give any encouragement to this type of bowlers. That's why cricket is such a great sport....It is played as much in the head as in the ground. And talking about watching a batsman play against pace and looking uncomfortable....I just want to give one example.....Steve Waugh.....In the beginning almost every fast bowler thought he is uncomfortable aginst short stuff. I vividly remember him aginst WI in WI (Taylor was Australian Captain). Walsh and Ambrose hurled everything at him.....He simply dropped his wrist and stood. The ball hit him everywhere...arms, helmets, armguard even chest. That was such an extreme case of uncomfortability against pace (and he was worse earlier).....but he was the man of the series for Australia.....Actually he was the difference between the two sides. The point I want to make is that it is the way you adjust to your shortcomings...it is the guts that will matter in the end.... Javed has shown that he can adapt (as "cricketislife" has pointed out). And I personally know how hardworking he is! Please don't take me wrong.....I am not trying to prove anybody wrong. I am just trying to explain what I think. I don't think Javed is world class (And in no way I am comparing him to Steve Waugh); But let somebody consistently prove that he can do better than Javed. Even Hannan was a relative flopp in Pakistan (I am talikng of tests). Anyway, I am writing all this in good spirit...I like your posts and they are very authoritative and informative.

bangladesh may collapse tomorrow........cuz the pitch will definitly favour bowlers...especially fast bowlers.....kets see what our batsmen can do......but first i hope...there will be no rain tomorrow

of course all this is in good spirit. Discourse is what makes this board great.

However, on the issue of Javed, I think we will have to agree to disagree. When I say Javed is uncomfortable against pace, I don't mean uncomfortable like everyone is uncomfortable against someone like Shoaib, I meant that he looked more out of sorts than the other batsmen in our team.

Anyway, I hope you are right and I am wrong. Atleast for the time being, Javed is our opener and I desperately want him to score runs soon.

Hannan seems to be in good nick for his 18 and rajin will try and bring some stability....I am hoping Kapali will come out and show what he is capable of....I still remember the six he hit off Lawson pulling on the front foot I think...

I have no words to say....I am not playing there so not sure what happend to them...is the pitch that much favorable to the bowler that they 're out...I didn't see the out so I can't tell....I am dissapointed...how can i have hope with such a team! tommorrow we will collapse...i have no more hope about this game nemore